Video: Old Man River - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of the ongoing web series Old Man River is out and it brings yet another intriguing episode for our viewing pleasure. The crew continues its 2400 mile (3862km) journey down the length of the Mississippi River, with conditions getting both better and getting worse this week.

The rains have stopped, which makes for better life on the river and the boat passes St. Louis, which means no more locks and dams. But the Mississippi is now at flood stages, which presents its own brand of issues.

Enjoy!

Outside Profiles Chad Kellogg

We're all Everest all the time around here today, but it kind of is the epicenter of the adventure world at the moment.

With that in mind, Outside Online has a great profile of speed-climber Chad Kellogg as he prepares for a run at the Everest speed record. The story was written by Grayson Schaffer, who has been stationed in South Side Base Camp all season long and has had the chance to get to know Chad while he is there.

The story takes a look at all the challenges that Kellogg has had to deal with over the past few years, including the loss of numerous loved one, most notably his wife Lara. He's also dealt with injuries, financial set backs and plenty of other problems, and yet he continues to pursue his passion for climbing all over the world.

At the moment, as the rest of the teams head for the summit, Chad is preparing to have a run at Marc Batard's 1988 record of 22 hours, 29 minutes from BC to summit and 36 hours for the round trip, all done without oxygen. There has been some rumblings about a fast time, turned in by Kazi Sherpa a decade later, who made it to the summit in 20 hours, 24 minutes, but Outside says that Kazi used oxygen on the descent, so his record is in some dispute.

Either way, reading the article I get the impression that Chad is going to hit the slopes and simply see what he can do. If the record is attainable he'll go after it, but mostly this is about him continuing to chase his passions in the mountains.

There are some concerns about the current weather window closing early next week. It would be a shame if Kellogg didn't at least have a go at the record. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Video: Everest From The North

Over the past few weeks I've shared a number of impressive videos of the route up Everest, but they were mostly from the South Side. The video below is an animation, but it does a fantastic job of showing the route up the Northeast Ridge and includes some of the important landmarks/milestones along the way including the position of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine at their last sighting. This is the route that the climbers on the North Side of the mountain will be taking this weekend as they head to the summit.

Everest 2012: First Summits of the Season!

Now that the weather has fallen into line, the Everest season is going according to plan and this morning we had our first successful summits of the season. As predicted throughout last week, the winds have quieted down and it looks like the current weather window will remain open through the weekend. But things look dicey after that, and so there has been a bit of a rush up the mountain as the climbers get into position to summit over the next few days. Traffic jams are now expected.

This morning the very experienced and strong Chilean team was the first to top out, and Alan Arnette is reporting that 10 members of that squad reached the summit. Climbing from the South Side, the team scrambled up the Balcony with the fixed lines already in place, but above that they went without the benefit of those ropes already being set down.

The Chileans were moving a bit ahead of the Sherpas, who followed not long after, setting the ropes all the way to the summit. Alan says that 10 Sherpas also reached the summit while finishing the task of fixing the lines. With that important work out of the way, the commercial teams are now free to follow.

Also of note, Alan is reporting that Ueli Steck may also have topped out this morning without the use of supplemental oxygen. Ueli hasn't confirmed this yet on his website, but he was planning on leaving Base Camp yesterday and heading straight up to Camp 4, which would have put him in place for a quick climb up this morning ahead of the crowds that will start tomorrow. This wasn't the speed attempt that we thought that he might be planning, but still an impressive display of climbing none the less.

Most of the teams like the Peak Freaks and IMG, were in Camp 3 yesterday and will proceed up to Camp 4 today. Once there, they'll rest and wait one final time, collecting their strength for the long push up to the summit and back down once they're mission is complete. Tomorrow will certainly be a busy day at the top of the world.

On the North Side they're still working on fixing the ropes but that work is expected to be wrapped up soon. Teams now have a staggered starting assignment that will begin late tonight and they'll all be heading up in waves. Among those hoping to top out tomorrow are the Altitude Junkies and the 7 Summits Club, both of which have climbers in Camp 3 now.

There was a bit of a disturbing note earlier that said that there were already traffic jams on thew up the mountain as some of the teams that had been planning on climbing next week have now moved their summits to this weekend instead. Apparently winds are already starting to pick-up on the North Side and the weather window may not last as long as some had hoped. Hopefully those traffic jams are alleviate over the weekend and everyone has quick and safe access to the top.

Keep your fingers crossed that everyone gets up and down the mountain safely over the next few days.

World Run II Update: Jesper Passes 35,000km Mark!

I haven't posted an update on Jesper Olson and his World Run II expedition since January, which was when he was starting the North American leg of the journey. Now he's nearing the end of that leg and has passed a major milestone along the way.

For those who aren't familiar with Jesper's epic undertaking, back in 2005 he completed the first fully documented run around the world, which for most of us would be enough of a challenge for a single lifetime. But in 2008 he decided to hit the road once again, this time running north to south and back again. He dubbed this second challenge the World Run II and starting from the northernmost point in Finland Jesper started running south. The route took him all the way across Europe, through the Middle East and down down Africa, before reaching the tip of that continent. From there he hopped a flight across the Atlantic and resumed running again, this time heading north through South America and eventually North America as well.

Currently Jesper is running through Maine and quickly approaching the U.S.-Canadian border, where he'll soon cross over and start the final leg of his journey, which will eventually end on Prince Edward Island. He still has a few more weeks of running before he reaches that point, but he is most definitely closing in on the finish line at long last.

A few days ago Jesper crossed a major milestone on World Run II. On May 15 he crossed passed the 35,000km (21,748 mile) mark. Thats an impressive distance to have run and eclipses World Run I by a considerable margin. On his original run around the world, Olson managed to cover 26232km (16,300 miles), but he passed that mark a long time ago and has passed into uncharted territory.

Recently Jesper lost part of his support crew so now he's also being forced to run while carrying a backpack. That added weight has changed his approach some, but he continues moving forward at a surprising pace. On the day that he crossed the 35,000km mark he covered 51km (31 miles), which is very impressive considering he's been running long distance nearly every day for four years.

As always, thanks to Darrell for keeping me updated wit Jesper's progress. It is such an amazing accomplishment that he is closing in on, although it sure makes my nightly five mile runs seem pretty insignificant.

Ride To Rio: A 10,000-mile Cycling Adventure

I'm always a sucker for a good long-distance cycling adventure and it seems riders Dom Smith and Andy Robinson are prepping for one of their own. The two men plan to set out in September on a 10,000 mile (16,093km) bike ride from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Naturally they've called their little expedition the Ride To Rio.

Dom and Andy's journey will take them through 12 countries, including the U.S.; Mexico; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Bolivia and of course Brazil. They expect it will take roughly six months to complete the ride, which they'll be filming for a documentary that they'll make upon their return.

The duo have just launched their new website, which is a great place to learn about their plans, and they'll be posting updates to Facebook and Twitter in the weeks leading up to their departure and of course on a regular basis while they're actually on their ride. As of today, they're still 133 days from departure, but once they get underway, it should be fun to follow along with their adventures.

Oh, and by the way, neither of the guys speaks much Spanish, which should make for some interesting experiences considering that is the primary language in almost all of the countries they'll be visiting along the way.

Video: People Are Awesome

Need a little afternoon inspiration? Than check-out the video below, which features a number of amazing athletes doing some amazing things. You'll find everything from mountain climbers and paddlers (Looks like Ueli!) to Base Jumpers and skateboarders, amongst numerous others, all pulling off some epic feats. Definitely a fun video that is well worth sharing.

Thanks to Nic and Jeff for passing this along. I caught it sometime back but hadn't been able to find a version I could embed to share on the blog. Maybe the video will give us some ideas on what to do in June, eh?